Artemis W., Austen D., Mercedez M., RuthAnn G., Sam B., Savannah N.

Sewn by Lauren D. Pineda, UA Theatre Production Major
Community Flag, 2021
Fabric, embroidery thread, markers

Community Flag was developed as an invitation to embroider a message of hope. The concept was inspired by the work of Demian DinéYazhi, an Indigenous Diné artist, and their collaborative work, “Untitled (Sovereignty)”.  This inspiration asked the artists to work in the style of “queer futurism”, where a positive future exists for queer youth and they play a pivotal, transformative role in the world.

Six artists from Mapping Q responded by sewing their own reactions to this prompt and we were grateful for the added collaboration of UA theatre arts student, Lauren D. Pineda, who designed the flag, sewing all six contributions into a single object. Community Flag is a first for Mapping Q, never before have so many youth artists collaborated on a single piece, and never from across the state of Arizona. This work is a powerful response to question posed by Demian DinéYazhi, “how can we be together apart?”